


Three Men And A Baby

by LightsOut



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Babies, Family, Healthy Relationships, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3914062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightsOut/pseuds/LightsOut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A baby is left on the doorstep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Men And A Baby

The baby was tiny with huge eyes and a crooked grin. Three men all looked at the baby with confusion and then two sets of eyes turned to look at the third man.

He scowled, “You don’t know that it’s mine.”

The taller man with dark skin and trimmed facial hair scoffed, “Well, it’s not mine.”

The final man rolled his eyes, “Bring it inside. Whether it’s yours or not Aramis… we can’t leave it on the doorstep.”

Aramis picked up the bassinette and carried the baby into the living room, “Is there a note or anything?”

Porthos picked up the baby carefully and the other two men searched the bassinette for any clues, “She has your eyes Aramis.”

Aramis protested, “She’s not mine, Porthos.”

Porthos ignored the protest and continued pulling faces at the baby to see if it would laugh. Athos, picked up a piece of paper that had been tucked beneath three bottles of breast milk.

He read the note out loud, “Aramis, yes, she’s yours. Her name is Annabelle. I can’t look after her anymore. Please don’t try and find me. I know that you’ll be a great father.”

Aramis had to sit down and Porthos rocked the baby gently. Athos put the note down slowly onto the table and his fingers twitched in agitation. 

Aramis said softly, “I had… no idea.”

Porthos leaned down to kiss the forehead of the man he loved and whispered, “It’s alright love.”

Porthos straightened up again and moved across the room to settle in the armchair by the window. He looked at the wide, innocent eyes of his lover’s daughter and smiled. She was beautiful and a perfect combination of her mother and father. With her golden hair and lovely name it was easy to guess that her mother was Anne.

Porthos wanted to be mad at Aramis for going after a married woman even if her marriage had been broken beyond repair but… Annabelle was so tiny and precious. Porthos stroked her forehead gently and when her smile grew wider his heart melted.

He said softly, “She’s so beautiful.”

He didn’t look at anyone else and slowly she drifted to sleep. When her eyes were firmly closed he lifted his gaze. Both Aramis and Athos were looking at him strangely but he didn’t mind. He’d always been the fastest to accept a change in circumstances. He knew that it would take Athos a while and Aramis needed time to realise that he had a daughter he’d not known about.

Porthos was careful not to jostle the baby as he placed her back in her bassinette and he lifted it carefully. He took her up to the spare bedroom. She was tightly wrapped and sleeping soundly so he put the basket on the bed and curled around it on top of the covers. He was okay with taking a nap and keeping her safe.

In the meantime, Aramis was still staring into space and Athos was looking longingly at the empty drink’s cupboard. Eventually he turned away with a frustrated growl and threw himself down onto the sofa. Aramis ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “I didn’t know. I… didn’t know.”

Athos sighed, long and low, “Porthos seems taken with her.”

Aramis dropped his head into his hands, “Fuck. What was Anne thinking?!”

Athos stretched and kicked off his boots, “She seems to have been well taken care of.”

“I don’t know how to be a father.”

“He was right when he said that she has your eyes.”

“She’s a girl!”

Athos propped himself up on his elbows, “Aramis, calm down.”

Aramis lifted his head enough to look at him. He said miserably, “You can’t be okay with this.”

Athos settled back against the sofa cushions, “Am I happy that you got Anne pregnant? No. Am I happy that she didn’t take the time to talk to us before she gave us a fragile baby to look after? No. Aramis, you have a daughter – something all of us never imagined, but it’s happened and unless you want to find Anne we don’t have a lot of options.”

Aramis muttered, “It was just one night.”

Athos nodded, “We know. You told us everything but it’s not your fault that she kept this from you. I wonder why she’s done this now.”

Aramis leaned back in his chair and looked out of the window, “She’s probably gone back to him. God, I hope not. She’s…”

“Stronger than that. She could’ve gone to Hollywood for all we know.”

Aramis’ lips twitched, “Porthos didn’t even hesitate.”

“He’s always like that. Nothing fazes him.”

They both smiled at each other for a moment before they looked away and became lost in their own thoughts. Aramis’ mind was racing and Athos was just trying not to think at all. When the baby started crying they both jumped in surprise.

Aramis was the first to climb the stairs although Athos was close behind. As they drew close to the spare bedroom they could hear muttered singing. Aramis opened the door and saw Porthos rocking the baby gently and cooing. His heart seized and he had to pause in the doorway. Athos had a similar reaction to seeing their lover. The crying didn’t last for long which was reassuring and Porthos turned to face them.

“Hey, are you ready to meet your daughter?”

Aramis swallowed hard and Athos pushed him softly into the room. Porthos drew closer and Aramis looked Annabelle. She was trembling slightly and she wasn’t smiling. She was slightly pudgy like most babies and her cheeks were bright red. She was the most beautiful thing that Aramis had ever seen.

He reached out cautiously and trailed the tips of his fingers across her cheek, “Hello Annabelle.”

She frowned at him and Aramis had to stifle his laugh because she looked like her mother. He reached back and gripped Athos’ hand. Athos allowed himself to be pulled closer. He could accept that she was a pretty baby but he also knew that she was probably going to get them into a lot of trouble. As he’d search through the basket he’d noted that Anne had been sensible enough to leave them with bottles and diapers as well as paperwork such as Annabelle’s birth certificate. His mind was calculating everything as he considered what they would need for the baby. His lover’s had fallen under her spell and he’d known from the moment he’d seen her on the doorstep that they were going to keep her.

Porthos was reluctant but he passed Annabelle to Aramis so that he could hold his daughter. They’d all had practice as their friends D’Artagnan and Constance had triplets. The three men had become skilled in babysitting duties.

Porthos pulled Athos into his side and hugged him as a replacement for a baby in his arms. Usually Athos would’ve rolled his eyes but he refrained and cuddled closer to reassure his love.

 

 

For the first week nothing seemed to work out. Athos was cranky from a lack of sleep, Porthos was jittery about leaving the baby alone and Aramis continued to have meltdowns about being unfit to be a father. After that, and a stern lecture from Constance, they managed to settle into a routine. Between the three of them it wasn’t smooth sailing but it worked and Aramis marvelled at anyone who managed to raise a baby with anyone less than three fathers, two understanding best friends and a neighbour such as Treville who offered to mow the lawn if they were too busy and forgot about such mundane tasks.

The first night Athos managed to get through eight hours of sleep without being woken he almost cried with relief. Instead he cooked pancakes and played with Annabelle while Porthos tried to convince Aramis to eat some healthy fruit instead of drowning everything in syrup.

Annabelle grew at an alarming rate. Her first word was, “Daddy.” She took her first steps towards Aramis in the living room. All three of them devoured child development books although they didn’t seem to help and the spare room was turned into her room as soon as she was old enough.

They decorated the room lilac and spent hours online and in the store buying furniture and other bits and pieces. Constance had laughed when she’d found out but she was kind about it and she passed on a few things from her own children who were older.

Annabelle was fond of running around outside and Athos encouraged it. Aramis took her to nursery, primary school, secondary school…

On her second day in her first year at secondary school Annabelle sat down at the table, “Nobody else in my class has three dads.”

They all froze. They knew that it wasn’t a usual arrangement although they didn’t care when they were given strange looks from people who didn’t understand. They’d had conversations before about how it would affect Annabelle but they’d never reached a satisfying conclusion between them.

Porthos was the first to recover, “Were you talking about it?”

She picked up an orange and started to peel it, “Uh huh. Jean has two dads and Tina has two mom’s but I’m the only one with three. It’s pretty cool.”

Porthos chuckled and went back to chopping onions. Aramis sat down next to her, “What did everyone else say?”

Annabelle smirked, “Jean was jealous, but it’s okay. I offered her my strawberries at lunch so we’re all cool.”

Porthos pulled a face, “You were supposed to eat those. I’m putting extra vegetables in the stir fry.”

She grinned. She’d helped Porthos with his vegetable garden for as long as she could remember and he was constantly talking about healthy eating. She didn’t mind and neither did anyone else although Athos did like to tease him about how passionate he was when he started arguing about the benefits of home-grown zucchini.

Nobody brought up the subject again although they all felt more relaxed when they were out as a family in a new place. So long as Annabelle was happy, they were happy. They were family.

 


End file.
